Customer Reviews

Wrongful Death: A Novel

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here I am. It's 1:54 AM. I should have been asleep for three hours already; instead, I just finished reading "Wrongful Death". Couldn't put it down at the end. It was an enjoyable book to read, although it dealt with a soldier's death in Iraq. And a few more deaths along the way. It was a well-crafted novel that includes a likable and skilled lawyer, David Sloan, his capable friend Charles Jenkins. And throw in a strong widow, Beverly Ford, and several other characters that you'll know by the time the book draws to a close. It has a great plot twist near the end that one cannot anticipate, and it adds the final seasoning to the well-crafted book.

Wrongful Death started rather slowly, but picked up such a head of steam I could not put it down. However, the subject of corrupt mega-defense contractors trying to get away with murder in Iraq frustrates me like crazy. I'd never read anything by Robert Dugoni before, but will certainly give him another try.
In addition, his Seattle area settings were almost flawlessly described, although his choice of the Burien Fred Meyer rather than Midway was a bit illogical, being as the characters were en route from Three Tree Point to Maple Valley. Oh, well, had to pick a nit somewhere!

Much as some Michael Crichton novels express his opinion on current topics such as global warming, "Wrongful Death" expresses an obvious anti-government, anti-big business bias against the backdrop of a dead soldier's family wrongfully denied the benefits to which they were entitled. A fair number of words are spent following the attorney's wife and child around Mexico as they try to escape big-business thugs. It kept up the pace but they seemed more like filler to me. All in all - it's a worthy read especially if you like military and courtroom drama.

I was attracted to this book because of its theme about trying to sue to the United States government for negligence toward injured soldiers who served in Iraq. I have been following this issue of neglected veterans in the news, so I was interested to see how Robert Dugoni would handle it in fiction.

The case seems like a sure loser: The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq thinks his death might have been due to inadequate body armor. Pretty hard to prove -- plus, the government considers death to be a normal occupational hazard of being a soldier. But attorney David Sloane agrees to take the case file home and read it. That's when he gets suspicious. The four eyewitness accounts all read pretty much the same -- something that just does not happen on the battlefield. Even in ordinary life, witness accounts are never that similar. Sloane suspects that they were coached as a cover-up. Then these witnesses start dying under suspicious circumstances -- and Sloane takes the case. As is usual with this genre, things are not what they seem on the surface, and soon Sloane is involved in a very complex -- and dangerous -- case with a killer threatening his family and time running out. (Any more than that would be a spoiler.)

In addition to being a fast-moving thriller, the book also has some interesting characters in their own right. Sloane himself was wounded in Vietnam, and is dealing with his own memories of war, as well as a rather strange childhood. His private investigator friend, former CIA agent Jenkins, is tough as nails, but still has compassion for an abused dog (a side plot that really touched my heart). I certainly would like to see more of this lawyer-detective team.

I have never read Robert Dugoni before so didn't really know what to expect. I was drawn in and engaged from the very beginning.

The plot itself is not mind-blowing or even surprising. What was surprising was the execution. The main character Sloane is believable and human, the supporting characters Jenkins and Alex are what muscle should be, tough but also central to the theme of the book. In particular when I say this book had a little bit of everything I was referring to the following:

1. This is at its essence a legal thriller. In that sense Grisham comes to mind. However, what I appreciated was that this was more of vintage Grisham where there was a lot of research into specific legal issues so that in addition to being entertained you actually walked away with a useful nugget or two of knowledge. In this case the research into the Feres Doctrine and army law was interesting to me.

2, Then I got a little Robert Parker with the classic Spenser series out of this. A tough detective story with muscle supporting characters while not rocket science has always played well for me and this was well written and executed.

3. Finally a good story needs to have heart. Sloane's motivation in taking the case i.e. to stand up for a army man who stood up for others, his kid fishing on end reminding one of how single tracked children can get from time to time are all human themes that run through the book and make it all very interesting and act as a great foil to the action and law.


The only criticism that I have is that for me it dragged a little in the middle but on the whole a great read, much enjoyed and I look forward to more installments.

I have read a lot of books, but rarely finish them because they lose my attention...I finished this one in 2 days. I couldn't put it down! I'm not big into political stories, or anything that has to do with the government...but Dugoni had a way of making this story beyond interesting. It wasn't a true story, but had an almost scary sense about it knowing that the government probably has done similar acts.

I don't want to give it away for anybody, but it is essentially about a widow who wants to sue the government due to her husband's death while at war in Iraq. She believes that his death could have been prevented had he been wearing adequate body armor...she and her lawyer couldn't have been more wrong. This was not meant to be a super sad book, but it did bring tears to my eyes a few times because there actually is a war going on and so many soldiers have died and left families all alone wondering...could the same have happened to their lost loved one while at war???? I give it an A++

Through most of the book I kept thinking that Dugoni showed promise as a new aspirant in the legal thriller genre. In workmanlike fashion he built adequate suspense, there's a likeable protagonist, trusty and lethally-skilled sidekicks, an interesting legal issue, sympathetic victims, dangerous opponents.

I felt his style still needed some seasoning and polish; the narrative was choppy in spots, and many scene transitions were abrupt and jarring. But still, for a relative rookie, not bad. Three stars, maybe even four.

And then came the final confrontation with the bad guys!

Without laying any foundation whatsoever, and from completely out of nowhere, a fully-armed and -manned Bradley Fighting Vehicle shows up to save the day, crashing through gates and walls! I expected to hear the Mighty Mouse theme playing in the background: "Here I come to save the day!" Why not an F-18 air strike? Or maybe aliens in a UFO from a nearby X-Files encounter?

The Deus ex Machina is a justly scorned literary device that harks back to the days of Ancient Greek theater, in which the playwright would get his hero into an unfixable mess, and a Chariot of the Gods (Deus ex Machina) would swoop down from the rafters and whisk him to safety.

That's EXACTLY what happened in this book. I literally burst out laughing when it happened.

My two stars are generous.

This is the second David Sloan book and, while it would be helpful to have read the first one before this, you can still enjoy this as a stand alone book. In the second, he recalls a lot of the first by way of background of the protagonist's previous life. The story is compelling and the book moves along quickly. The David Sloan character is not only a great lawyer, but is brave and capable when dealing with violent opponents. Realistic? Probably not, but it makes for a good story. Reading what the soldiers endured is heartbreaking enough without the subsequent story of what happened to the ones who did return. Sloan and Beverly Ford, his client who lost her husband to a "wrongful death," make a very smart and determined team in finally bringing about justice to some very corrupt individuals.

This is the second book in the series featuring David Sloane, and as was the case in the prior novel, Dugoni delivers on super-fast spellbinding thrillers. This does not mean that the work is flawless, but it sure ranks high in entertainment value.

On the plus side, this novel has an engaging plot, with many twists and turns, characters that grab our interest and fast action. The main character, David Sloane, is an attorney in Seattle that specializes in representing Hispanic clients in lawsuits, mainly against big corporations. This "newfound profession", moving from defending these big corporations to going after them, came after in the last installment, Sloane found out some disturbing facts about his past that were long lost in his memory. Sloane has a military background, so is part lawyer, part jock that can mix it up with killers. He also has some interesting friends, especially in the middle-aged Jenkins, an ex-CIA agent that is a big asset when it's time for the showdown.

Even though many of the aspects mentioned above make for a great story, there are some obvious flaws with the novel, and I am pretty sure that some people may find them more annoying than I did. The first one is that from the marketing perspective (look at the front cover of the book for example) this is sold as a legal thriller, when in reality the "legal" portion is pretty slim. But besides that, those that read The Jury Master, will find a lot of repetition in "Wrongful Death". To start with, the author spends quite a bit of time rehashing the events that unraveled in the previous book. This is so blatant that even though I usually recommend to read series in order, I would have to say in this case that this is not necessary. This may be a benefit for new readers, but for those that read the first book is definitely a little over the top. But there is also repetition in how the story flows and the elements the author uses to create the thrills. I could tolerate it, but I would have preferred more creativity.

Overall, and given the aforementioned caveats, I would say that most people will have a good to very good time with this novel, so I think it is good enough to deserve a recommendation.

Robert Dugoni has gotten good reviews for his first legal thriller "Jury Master". I didn't read that book. But after reading some reviews I thought that I would give his second effort a try. The writing is workmanlike. Dialog is good. It reminded me a bit of the old Harold Robbins novels. I loved them. The plot starts out very promising. Attorney David Sloan takes on what appears to be a truly challenging case: a woman wants to sue the US government for the mysterious death of her husband. Sloan, against the odds, vows to get to the bottom of the husband's death.

The rest of the book wanders through dark and often pointless images of shady people who have something to hide. Predictably, as Sloan gets closer to the truth, he finds himself in more and more danger. The surprise ending was truly a surprise to me. I couldn't believe a resepected, published author could use such a cheap trick to save the day.

I am sure Dugoni has his fans. I can see how David Sloan can build a following. I am not a follower. The legal thriller genre tends to build strong feelings positive and negative about authors. I am not a Robert Dugoni fan. The two stars I gave this book is a gift. I just couldn't get involved with the story and found the ending insulting.